Jethro Pugh Dies at 70; Cowboys Defensive Tackle Played 14 Seasons

Former Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Jethro Pugh has died at the age of 70.

Pugh was one of the longest tenured players in the Cowboys’ history, playing 14 seasons from 1965 to 1978, participating in five Super Bowls and winning two rings.

"This is a sad day for Cowboys fans, and our thoughts and prayers go out to Jethro's family,” Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said on the Cowboys website. "He was loved and appreciated by his teammates and Cowboys fans for decades, and his spirit will be felt when our team travels to Green Bay this weekend."

On Thursday, Walt Garrison, a former fullback on the team, joined the Talkin’ Cowboys radio show by telephone to talk about the Ice Bowl game in 1967 that was the coldest in NFL history and in which Pugh played.

The Ice Bowl was already in the news this week before Pugh’s death because just like 1967, the Cowboys are returning to Lambeau Field to play the Green Bay Packers this weekend, a game that’s been called Ice Bowl II.

Garrison called Pugh a “great guy” and said both he and Robert Newhouse, another player from the team who died recently, were “great team leaders, they were great team players, and they were great friends.”

Garrison also referred to Pugh as “Buzzy,” and laughed when asked to explain Pugh’s nickname of Buzzard. “Buzzy, he was tall and lean. I started to say skinny, but he was tall and lean, but a good athlete, I’m tellin’ you, quick as a cat,” Pugh told Talkin’ Cowboys. “If you ever looked at him on the field, he always kind of hunched over, and it looked like his shoulders were higher than his head, and he looked like a buzzard sittin’ on a tree limb.”